FEGUER, Victor Harry

FEGUER, Victor Harry. (1935--Fort Madison, IA, Mar. 15, 1963) Victor Harry Feguer was the last person to be executed in America before capital punishment was banned as a sentence until 1976. He remains the last person to be put to death in Iowa after he was found guilty of killing Dr. Edward BARTELS.

Feguer, a drifter, arrived in Dubuque, Iowa, in the summer of 1960 and rented a room at a boarding house. Soon after arriving, he phoned Doctor Edward Bartels, claiming that a woman needed medical attention. When Dr. Bartels arrived, Feguer kidnapped him, drove him into Illinois, and killed the doctor with a single gunshot to the head. A few days later, Feguer was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama, after trying to sell Dr. Bartels' car. It is believed that Feguer had chosen Dr. Bartels, a 34 year old father of two, at random from the local Yellow Pages.

Composite sketch that led to the arrest.

Authorities believe that Feguer had kidnapped and killed Dr. Bartels in order to gain access to any drugs that Bartels may have carried to treat patients. Because Feguer transported his hostage across state lines, federal charges were filed against Feguer. In his defense, Feguer claimed that a drug addict from Chicago, whom Feguer met in Dubuque, had actually murdered Bartels. Feguer claimed that he killed the drug addict and dumped his body in the MISSISSIPPI RIVER. Authorities could not find any evidence that this other person ever existed.

Feguer was returned to Iowa in August, 1960 from a federal institution in Springfield, Missouri. There he had been declared same after more than three weeks of mental tests. He was held in the Black Hawk County jail in Waterloo with no visitors allowed. (1)

In March 1961 during his trial in Waterloo, Feguer was discovered to have smuggled hacksaw blades into his jail cell and used them to cut away at one of the bars of his cell. (2)

Feguer was tried and convicted in federal court for these crimes and sentenced to death by hanging. (3) He was scheduled to die at the prison in Fort Madison on January 15, 1963, but this date was set aside on November 2, 1962 by federal judge Henry N. Graven in response to Feguer's attorneys who filed a request for executive clemency based on their client's alleged mental illness. (4) Feguer's attorneys were joined in their appeal by Iowa's governor, Harold Hughes, a death penalty opponent.

The plea for executive clemency and life imprisonment was the first from a United States Court to President John F. Kennedy. It followed the refusal of the United States Supreme Court to review the case and the affirmation of the District Court's decision by the United States Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis. (5)

Prior to Attorney General Robert Kennedy giving the president his recommendation in the case, a board of three psychiatrists examined Feguer to determine his mental state. In two previous tests conducted before he was tried, Feguer was judged schizophrenic but able to determine right from wrong. (6) Feguer was rescheduled to be hung on February 15th, but the Justice Department and Attorney General Robert Kennedy required two months to prepare recommendations on Feguer's petition. The date of the execution was then reset to March 15th. (7)

President Kennedy denied the appeal. Feguer was hung for his crimes.

---

Source:

1. "Suspect Held in Waterloo," Telegraph-Herald, August 21, 1960, p. 1

2. Ney, Jim. "Hacksaws Found in His Shoe," Telegraph Herald, March 10, 1961, p. 1

3. Ney, Jim. "Defense Attorneys Plan for Appeal." Telegraph Herald, March 13, 1961, p. 2

4. Shively, Neil. "For Kidnap-Slaying of Dubuque Doctor," Telegraph Herald, November 2, 1962, p. 1

5. Shively, Neil. "Plea for Feguer's Life 1st of Type for Kennedy," Telegraph Herald, November 14, 1962, p 1

6. Shively, Neil. "Evidence to Go to President," Telegraph Herald, January 6, 1963, p. 1

7. "Execution of Feguer Postponed," Telegraph Herald, February 1, 1963, p. 1

For other footnotes linked to his case, see Edward BARTELS